Candle illuminated toy or ornament



April 11, 1950 B. MURPHY CANDLE ILLUMINATED TOY 0R ORNAMENT Filed'Oct. 2'7, 1948 INVENTOR. 5,4 km MORE/f) BY Patented Apr. 11, 1950 2,503,587 1 CANDLE ILZLUMINATIED TOY on ORNAMENT Barryltlurphy, Palo Alto, cam. Applicatiirdctober 27, 1948, Serial No. 56,770

: 4 Claims. (01, 67-27) This invention relates particularly tdChristmas and holiday toys and ornaments as'j used for decorating about the Christmas treeland other places in the vicinity and home.

The principal object of the inve tion is to provide a means for self contained candle illumination for such objects without making the objects themselves of tallow provided with a wick, and for obtaining a constant safe candle ilame illumination without the danger of-:fire usually attendant with the use of candles at festive occasions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: 1 Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive show variousholiday ornaments or decorative toys to which my improvement has been applied, the devices being respectively a Santa Claus standing figure, the head of a person, a toy house, an egg, and apig.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical cross section of the candle mounting of Fig. 1 as taken parallel to the plane of the drawing sheet.

Before describing the drawings in detail it will give a better understanding of the invention to mention the fact that in holiday decorations, especially at Christmas time, the us'eof naked candles is historic, so is the number of fires occurring therefrom, as the candles melt and the grease catches fire to spread the flames.'?. Besides regular candles, it has in recent years become the custom to manufacture decorative candles in various forms other than plain shafts, thus a whole market in the form of a translucent head of Santa Claus as a mantle ornament with a rear portion having a projecting wick to cast a light through the forward portion, and the whole article being of tallow or paraffin could lead to a disastrous fire as the burning wick irhelted it down.

My invention, therefore, hasfgjas one of its objects the production of such holiday ornaments or festive figure of a fireproof substance such as plaster of Paris, clay, or any ofthe non-inflammable plastics, opaque or translucent, or of glass, and which will carry within them one or more concealed candles with only the flame extending 2 upward therefrom and with nothing inflammable within its reach.

In the drawings, the various views 1 to 5 indicate three dimensional ornamental holiday figures, the body portions of which, respectively A, B, C, D, and E are of non-combustible material, preferably moulded, pressed, or otherwise formed and designedto be self-sustaining and to stand firmly on a mantle or other support, although if to be usedas a tree decoration they may be of any other form for suspension or otherwise attaching to the tree,-

Within the body or substance of the material S of which the image is formed is a vertical cylinat the bottom for accessibility of a sheet metal or other non-combustible sheet material tube or sheath I0 tightly fitting within bore I and extending down into the larger cavity 9 below where it is preferably closed as by a lid II which telescopes over the lower end of the tube and fastens by a fractional turn as by a bayonet joint l2, and which provides for inserting or renewing the candle.

The uppefend of tube In is reduced in diameter, as at I3 and preferably conical to stop against the similarly reduced upper end 8 of the bore 1, and forms a centering stop for the candle, while within the tube Us a freely slidable candle l1 urged upward by a, coiled spring l4 so that as it is melted by its flame [5 from its burning wick IS the candle will always be correspondingly forced upward against the conical stop 13. It is obvious that the sheath I may be formed integrally with and of the body material if desired.

Such spring urged candles in a tube are in themselves not new, but have been known a long time, but in so far as I am aware they have been spring urged candle sticks merely, even though sometimes of elaborate shape, but not such a device bodily mounted in non-combustible holiday ornaments as herein described and which is an important improvement tending to greatly reduce the fire hazard of candle illumination on Christmas and other festive occasions, and in which improvement .the candle flames appear to burn directly upon the upper surface of the illuminated article.

From a consideration of the disclosure, and the drawings under A, B, C, D, and E showing respectively a Santa 'Claus, head of a person, house, egg, and a pig, it is obvious that no limit as to the ornamental form of the body is intended.

candle adjacent an .upper surface. of the figure to bring its fia'mewhen lighted Just above the adjacent upper surface of the figure, spring means automatically urging said candle upwards, a stop fixed relative to the body at theextreme endof the bore overlapping and limiting the upward movement of said candle, and an enlarged? cavity in said body below said candle, freely openl at its.

lower end to permit removal of said candledown wardly through said cavity.

2. A holiday ornament comprising a three dimentionalt bodied-v figure. formed of, non-combustible material and' a candle embedd ed in a vertical bore thereiniwith the upper end. ofthe candleadjacent aniupper surface of the figure. to bring its flame when. lighted just. above the.

adjacent upper surface of the figure, spring means automatically so maintaining said, candleas. it is consumed, a sheath surrounding said candle andlin: which it freely slid'abl'e and an enlarged cavit'y inthe body of said figure below i said sheatli opening.v outwardly of the body and into which cavity the sheath extendsyandmeansmaking. said candleaccessible to the fingers of a" hand through said. cavity.

Ina. Christmas toy type ornament, a three dimensional body formed ofnon-combustiblemat'erial with. a concealed. candle embedded in said body and vented for lighting atlan upper surface of said body, spring means urging said candle upward to bring its flame just above the body, and a lower cavity formed in the body below said candle opening downward of the 'body and through which cavity the candle is accessible for manual insertion and removal.

4. A holiday ornament comprising a three dimensional bodied figure of non-combustible material, a vertical bore in said figure with a restricteduppererid open atithe upper surface of said figure and terminating at its lower end in an enlarged open cavity at the bottom of the figure, a tube secured in the vertical bore with its toplend portion abutting the restricted portion of the bore and its bottom end portion projecting-into the enlarged open cavity, a concealed candleimthe tube, a lid releasably retained on the bottom end portion of the tube insaid enlarged open cavity, and a coil spring supported in the tube by said lid to urge the concealedcandleupwardly and projectits wick through the upper restricted opening in said three dimensional bodied figure.

BARRY MURPHY REFERENCES CITED Thefoliowingreferences are of record in the file" of thi'spatent: 1

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

